Discussion Topic

Here's a plan... Let's keep track of when Pete is going to do a wall and then head to the base when he is near the top. Wait for the missile to crater and then take it away. Free gear! After losing a few thousand dollars maybe then he will change tactics.

Now all of these just affect the climbers around or after you negatively or are simply disrespectful. They cause no real harm to other people yet someone who does these things tends to lose at least a bit of respect.

Some might say "who cares" and have a point. Except the stealing

But then there are things that border on the true criminal due to the real harm they do or could do to others

Dropping bags off el-cap in my mind is worse than anything on the above list. Simply because it's very possible to kill someone. It's no different than throwing rocks off any popular route.

I see no good argument for dropping your bags no matter how "careful" you think you are trying to be.

Isn’t it fun to blame the messenger for bad news. Yep, and all those people hiking up the gullies at night, hauling loads to avoid the heat of the day … they deserve to be killed by a falling bag… of course, they do. Sorry but I am not going to sit idly by while these tosser’s play Russian Roulette … the twist is that instead of putting the gun to their own heads and pulling the trigger, they put it to someone else’s head and pull the trigger… and the kicker is that those people don’t even know they are playing!
Sorry if I offended some of your independent spirits but this isn’t Baffin Island where you are sure no one is below at any time.

How do I know that Pete and Jon tossed those bags? Climbers at the base of the Nose saw them walking by in the afternoon, coming down the east side base trail carrying haul bags with those crunched water bottles tied on to them. They were caught in the act of fetching their bags from the impact area. But maybe they hiked the bags down the east ledges, put them in Jon’s truck, carried them up to the base and them carried them down… to get more exercise??!

Pete has not responded to any efforts to change his behavior. I wrote him at the end of the season and told him that he has been very lucky in the past but that next season (this season now) I was going to call him out on it. So, he had a few months to figure out a new way to bring stuff down without tossing. He will not respond… because there is no logical reason to take such a risk and thus it is indefensible. Other, responsible people, hire starving monkey’s to carry their stuff down or make other arrangements.

It is a serious thing and I for one don’t want it on my conscience that I sat idly by and did nothing to prevent what could be a real life changer for the tosser’s and those tossed upon. Those of you who think it is no big deal should talk to Molly, Pete Absolon’s widow and her daughter, who has no father to grow up with, because some fool threw a rock off a cliff to watch it fall… and fall it did and killed Pete.

. . . If and when one of those bags does hit someone or blasts them nearby at 120 mph with, as Philo says, shrapnel, it will be incredibly incredibly tragic, senseless and at the same time horrific. It likely will even cause criminal charges and certainly civil action against those who were that dumb---likely in the millions of dollars too. I have to assume too that the NPS will have to get involved and some kind of new policy or curtailment will take place and our tenuous relationship with the NPS will turn to crap again.

it was a matter of time before someone would attempt to compare apples to oranges. BASE jumping off El Cap while illegal is a controlled descent. Quite different from tossing a bag off El Cap. Now I'm sure in your ignorance you will bring up an event in Oct. 1999 which you know nothing about and the COD. Again that has nothing to do with tossing bags off El Cap. Nor is even relevant to this discussion

The Canadian ASSassin has long been tossing his sh#t for 10+ years. He would brag about it constantly and even at one point temped me with beer to wait at the base for his "air delivery package" I told him to go f*#k himself. (in a polite way of course)

Bring up a valid comparison to defend the Canadian ASSassin and his lack of ethics and class. This is just another example of his character... or lack thereof

Tom, don't stop reporting on Pete, just change when you choose to report. As soon as it looks like he's going to top out, report that there will be free gear in xx hours available for the enterprising dirtbag climber. Maybe put a note up in Camp 4 about the free gear too. You're just helping him have a little less gear to haul next time. I love altruism.